


Parasite

by HappyFazzbearPonies2



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: A regretful Rick he sad boy, Alternate Reality, An usual asshole Rick we all know and love, Gen, Morty probably a mix of Season 2 and 3 attitude, PEW PEW PEW IMMA BAD AT TITLES, Sadness... lots of sadness, Usual R&M things, also here is the worst title EVA
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-01-19 10:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12408339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyFazzbearPonies2/pseuds/HappyFazzbearPonies2
Summary: Morty is visited by an unknown Rick in the middle of the night, who was there and gone as fast as he came. Confused and curious, Morty decides to investigate.





	1. A Rick of a different dimension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMMMM I WONDER WHAT SHOULD I DO.
> 
> DO CAMP CAMP
> 
> OR DRAG MYSELF DEEPER INTO RICK AND MORTY AND FINALLY MAKE A COMIC INSPIRED FAN FIC?....
> 
> .....
> 
> SHUM SHUM SHLIPPITY DUP, RICK AND MORTY IT IS!

****  
  


Morty had a very quiet day. Rick hasn’t dragged him into any life-threatening adventures or had to shoot a horde of aliens trying to invade Earth for the one or three hundredth time. He even had time to go to school, get some lunch and look up some things on his computer in Incognito mode.

It was a perfectly normal day for a fourteen-year-old.

It had already gotten dark outside and Morty was drifting off in front of his lit up computer. He was dully clicking through the pages of social media and online comics when a loud crash and a blinding glow of green light to his left caught his attention.

Morty rubbed his eyes, the dark spots dancing across his eyes slowly fading. As his vision cleared, so did his bleary mind.

Stumbling out of the portal, bloodied and dishevelled, was Rick Sanchez.

“Grandpa Rick!”

He dropped his computer in alarm and scrambled towards his injured grandfather.

“Rick, are you ok? What are you doing here?  _ What happened?” _ Morty gasped.

Rick said nothing; his eyes stared at him with a certain emptiness. Then he shuffled forward, getting closer to Morty.

“Rick?” Morty asked before being enveloped in a soft hug. His eyes widened in surprise before he intuitively hugged back. Morty felt something wet on his hand. Unlocking from the hug, Morty saw a crimson stain on it, soaked enough to have it dribbling down his fingers.

Rick headed back into the portal. Morty started to go after him, “Rick, wait!”

“Morty! Was that a crash I heard?!”

Sounds of quickening footsteps grew louder towards his room and Morty froze. Bemused, he recognised the voice as his grandpa’s. “W-What? Rick?”

The room suddenly went dark when the strange Rick disappeared through the portal. Two seconds later it was filled with light again when Rick charged into his room, almost kicking the door off its hinges. The gun held tightly in his hands whirred threateningly.

“ _ Show yourself, you son of a—!” _ Rick stopped mid-sentence. “Oh, it was just you, Morty.” He lowered the gun.

Morty stared at him silently, his mind struggling to process what had just happened.

“Can you keep it down, then? I’m  _ trying _ to work.”

Rick left, closing the door behind him with a clunk.

Morty quietly sat back down on his bed, holding his bloodied hand and gazing at the wall where the unknown Rick had appeared.

“I wonder what that was all about…” Morty murmured.

* * *

 

 

The strange visit from last night plagued Morty’s mind the next day, questions of the mysterious Rick’s origins flittered in his brain, conceivable theories, probabilities of how he ended up so battered up and soaked in gore. Did he encounter a dangerous alien?

The red stain on his hand was starting to dry up and he hasn’t gone to wash it off. He decided to do that now. Heading to the bathroom, he continued to think about the events of last night.

He didn’t look  _ that _ injured, and that amount of blood loss would have him in serious danger of falling dead on the floor. But he was still mobile and looking somewhat awake, except for that slight limp in his left leg.  _ Was that even his blood, then? _

Morty stopped in his tracks.

If it wasn’t Rick’s own… then who did it belong too?

Why did he, a complete stranger of this dimension and this Morty, decide to come here, just to give him a hug? Rick never gave him a hug before, let alone had other Ricks.

Frowning deeply, he de-railed from his current path to the bathroom and headed downstairs to the garage.

Rick was there, silently working over what could be a helmet of sorts. Metal pieces covered in soft, red padding stuck out in multiple directions. Morty has seen this thing many times on the bench in Rick’s garage, and only three or four times did he see Rick actually tinkering with it.

“… Rick?” Morty called out from the door.

Rick didn’t give him any sign of acknowledgement as Morty walked beside him.

“Can… I talk to you?” Morty asked hesitantly.

“I’m sure you’re about to, whether I like it or not,” Rick grunted.

“Uh, do you remember last night? When you came into my room to check out a noise?”

“No. I was probably drunk.”

“Oh.”

“Is that why you came in here? To ask me pointless questions?” A shower of sparks burst from the helmet, along with a low string of curses from Rick.

“No… well, yes, and to tell you… there was another Rick.”

Rick paused his work, but still didn’t look up. “A Rick? Did he get lost?”

“I, uh, he just came in through a portal? He didn’t say anything, he just… gave me a hug.”

Rick dropped the helmet and whipped around so fast his neck cracked. “He  _ what?” _

Morty stammered for a moment, searching for words. “Yeah, he… he was covered in blood and, and he hugged me and then he just… disappeared again.” Unconsciously, Morty held up his hand. He’d forgotten to wash the blood off, and his hand was streaked a crusty red-brown.

Rick examined the blood with a frown. “Huh. He musta been dying or something.”

Silence fell as Morty anticipated Rick’s next words. Inwardly, he was already preparing to leap into action, to act as the sidekick for the hero that some stupidly optimistic part of him still believed Rick to be.

Rick belched. “Well, that was weird. Don’t wake me up if it happens again.” Without another word, he turned back to his invention.

“What?” Morty blurted. “Shouldn’t we g-go find him? And help him?”

“Why bother?” Rick snorted. “He’s just another one of an infinite number of Ricks. Plus he’s probably dead already. Going after this one is pointless.”

_ “Rick!”  _ Morty’s voice jumped an octave or two. “He’s a Rick and he’s in trouble! It’s our responsibility-”

Rick’s voice turned cold. “Our  _ responsibility?  _ Need I remind you, Morty, that I’ve  _ killed  _ more than my fair share of Ricks? If one of us can’t take care of himself, it’s his problem. We Ricks don’t stand up for each other, we don’t band together, and we  _ don’t  _ charge to each other’s rescue. Whatever’s up with this guy, it’s his problem.”

Morty’s face was flushed, his voice wobbling in that embarrassing way that it did when he was frustrated beyond words. “Rick, how would you feel if it was you? Wouldn’t you want someone to come help?”

“It  _ is  _ me, dumbass. And no, I still don’t care. Are you going to leave me be now, or will you keep *burp* pestering me with your pointless do-gooderism?”

“Rick,  _ please-” _

Dropping the helmet, Rick turned again to face Morty. “How is this not getting through your thick skull?  _ It doesn’t matter.  _ There’s a million Ricks, and a thousand of them probably die every day. And life will go on, completely unchanged, until it’s our turn to become worm food. And when that happens, some other Morty will probably be begging his Rick to come and save us. And do you know what he’ll say? The same thing I’m saying now. Because he’s going to care as much as I do. Which is none. Now please go back to whatever imbecilic pastimes take up your day whenever I’m not around.”

The duo stared each other down; Rick indifferent, Morty shaking with anger and on the verge of tears. 

“Rick, if you don’t help, I’ll- I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” Rick challenged. “Cry? Go ahead. See if I care.”

Against his will, a few stray tears slipped down Morty’s face at the harsh words. Still, he continued to hold his ground. 

After a few more long minutes of tense silence, Rick sighed heavily. “You really are more trouble than you’re worth, Morty.” 

“D-does mean you’ll help?” Morty yelped, higher-pitched than he’d intended.

“You know what? Fine. Whatever. You’re obviously not going to let this go, and you’re even more useless to me than usual when you get emotional. Now get that bloody hand over here and we’ll pinpoint a target dimension.”

“Th-thank you, Rick. You won’t regret this,” Morty promised fervently.

“I seriously doubt that. Let’s just get this over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHHH I'M THE WORST FRIEND EVER! I'M SORRY CUNZY I HAVE LET YOU DOWN! HAHAHA!
> 
> (Seriously I'll do the next chapter I promise just tell me the outline of it since you helped with the dialogue for this scene.)
> 
> (OH AND HERE'S THE LINK TO THE COMIC: https://atenahena.tumblr.com/post/164850264939)


	2. Even Ricks have Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty had finally convinced Rick to see what was going on with the other Rick that had visited him last night. When they arrive at the dimension he was residing in, they find... nothing pleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUGH I'VE BEEN GONE FOR LIKE AGES.
> 
> I'm so sorry there hasn't been a lot of activity on my fics and that. But I haven't had a good time in real life and I'm struggling with one of my biggest writer's block yet. Cunzy, who's a dear friend of mine, helped me by implementing the last few hundred words into this so it'll be done and I don't have to worry about it. I really appreciate her and all the help she gives me and I don't know where I'll be without her. So please, if you haven't already. Check out her page on AO3 with the name cunzy4 and her Wattpad and Tumblr with the same name. She's an awesome person and a wonderful friend.
> 
> And don't worry, soon I'll be able to update ALL of my fics in due time. So no more hiatuses in the near future. I'll make sure.

After what felt like ages of analysing the blood, getting various DNA results (which had just confirmed Morty’s earlier suspicion, making him uneasy) and having to determine which will be the most reliable. Soon they finally confirmed the dimension and set the code into the portal gun.

“Come on, Morty. Let’s just do this—  _ hhuRRP  _ quick, but don’t whine to me if he’s dead, alright?”  Rick said.

“He  _ will _ be alive and when we find him we’re going to save him,” Morty shot back.

Rick snorted and shot out a portal, Morty jumped in without waiting for Rick.

The garage suddenly warped into a dark dining room, an exact duplicate of their house. Except for the rotting corpses of alien parasites. Morty landed on his feet only to slip and hit the floor with a yelp, getting covered in gore.

A second later Rick appeared through the portal just before it closed behind him. Unlike Morty, he didn’t fall to the ground.

Morty struggled to his feet and stared at his surroundings. He tried to wipe off all the rotting bits off his face.

“Oh my God, Rick, what happened here?”

“What do you think happened?” Rick twisted the lid off his flask and took a long drink, “It’s obvious. Remember those alien parasites from ages ago? Well, it looks like this dimension didn’t go as well as our one did. We’re most likely all dead here, Morty.”

“Geez, Rick! This is terrible!”

“Come on, Morty, this isn’t the worst kind of thing we came across,” Rick rolled his eyes and started to move out of the dining room.

Morty followed him to the lounge room only to take a step back when he saw the bodies of his Mom, Dad and sister. All three bodies had gaping chunks of flesh and bone missing.

Saying nothing, Morty’s eyes went to Rick, who also stopped in his tracks. He looked at the dead Beth and Summer with an inscrutable expression on his face.

But when Rick caught Morty staring up at him he seemed to snap out of it, “What?”

Morty looked down for a moment and scanned his surroundings, “If my other family is here, where’s the other me?”

“No idea, Morty, but you’d be still in the house, the blast shields are still up.”

Hesitantly, Morty stepped over blood and alien corpses that littered the darkened house. 

“Uh… hello?” he called. “Other me? Rick? Alien parasites? Anyone?”

His voice echoed back at him, lonely and empty. Rick took a swig from his flask as Morty tried the light switch, and they both flinched when the room was flooded with light. The mangled corpses of the parasites were strewn all over the walls and furniture.

The Rick crouched in the corner was holding so still that Morty didn’t notice him for a moment. The bloodstained Rick didn’t react to the light or their presence, staring down at the body held in his arms. Morty realized with a start that the body was his own.

Morty started to take a step but was stopped by his own Rick’s hand on his shoulder.

“Morty,” Rick warned in a whisper. “We should go home. This isn’t our business.”

Suddenly furious, Morty whirled on Rick. “Why?” he hissed. “This Rick is alive, and he needs our help.  _ Why  _ are you trying to turn back now?”

Rick’s face was unreadable. “Because the family wasn’t killed by the parasites,” he said. “They were killed by laser blasts.”

Morty stared, uncomprehending, waiting for Rick to explain.

“He’s the one who killed them.”

* * *

 

Morty took a moment to absorb this information, feeling something go cold inside of him.

“R-Rick? What-what do you?...” Morty stuttered out, hesitantly pushing Rick’s hand away, taking a step closer to the other Rick then froze. He looked back to his Rick apprehensively, “B-but… _ why? _ ”

Rick took another swig from his flask. “Ricks are Ricks, ya know. Sometimes… it’s hard to believe someone like us could really have a loving family. Sometimes… too hard.”

“So… h-he thought they were parasites?” Morty said weakly.

“Guess so. Or maybe he just started shooting and didn’t stop until everything stopped moving. It’s easy to go a little crazy in a tight spot like this.”

The Rick on the ground still hadn’t moved. Morty moved towards him, but Rick stopped him again.

“Come on, Morty, just leave him,” Rick warned again, his tone more strained. He grabbed Morty by the arm, “There’s nothing we can do here.”

Rick turned to leave, but Morty pulled him back; recalling his mission, he put the shock aside to deal with later.

“No, wait!” Morty turned to look at Rick again, determination in his eyes. “We still have to save him!”

Rick scowled, “ _ Seriously _ , Morty? I just told you, this is none of our business; it’s this Rick’s. Now let’s get out of here, this place is giving me the fuckin’ creeps.”

“No, Rick, we’re not leaving without him!”

“You mean  _ you’re _ not leaving without him,” Rick retorted, “I’d be  _ glad _ to abandon this guy’s ass. Ricks aren’t  _ meant _ to save each other. We  _ hate _ each other because we hate ourselves. And I’ll be more than happy to ditch you here as well if you’re gonna be a little shit!”

“Screw you, Rick!” snapped Morty in response, “I’m gonna help the other you, e-even if you hate it!”

Morty tugged roughly until Rick let go. Kneeling next to the unresponsive Rick, he tried to ignore his grandfather continue the argument that he will no longer have a part with.

_ “—don’t think there is even something there to help. Look at him, he’s pretty much brain-dead to everything—“ _

Forcing himself to not look at his dead body nor the frozen, fearful expression it had in this Morty’s last moments nor the gaping hole in its chest, Morty plastered a gentle smile as he put his hand on the blank-faced Rick’s shoulder.

“Hey, uhm… Other Rick? Can you… hear me?” Morty asked.

The Other Rick, for a few moments, looked as unresponsive as ever, before he blinked a couple of times, before setting his eyes on the Morty beside him.

Taking this as a yes, Morty pressed on, blocking out his Rick’s increasing protests. “I’m the Morty you visited last night, do you remember?”

Other Rick continued to stare at him. Besides blinking, the only movement he made was to slightly adjust his hold on the dead Morty in his arms and bring him closer to his body.

Again pushing the thoughts in his brain contemplating why this Rick would murder his family aside, he continued. “I just saw you-you looked really hurt so I just wanted to see if you were okay or if you needed any help.”

“ _ — why am I still sticking around, for this piece of shit? I can’t even—“ _

Morty’s smile faltered a bit, looking for more words to speak. He let his eyes wander and he noticed the wound in Other Rick’s left leg. The blood had dried over it, but Morty can see that it was a small shot wound.

Sucking in a breath, Morty stuttered out the next few words. “And… now th-that I— we found you, I can see you’re not okay, s-so, I-I w-want to help you, Rick. I can help you get better if you come with us.”

Other Rick just continued to stare at Morty, not saying a word. Then he shook his head gently and turned his attention back to his dead grandson.

“W-what?” Morty said, a little taken back, “No, hey, you can’t just stay here. You need help, Rick. We’re gonna help—  _ I-I’m gonna help you.”  _ Morty corrected himself with a little irritation after his Rick butted into his conversation.

Other Rick just shook his head again and let out a small, “No.”

Morty frowned, “But, you’re gonna die here, and I can’t let that happen. Rick, please!” Morty shook the Other Rick’s shoulder roughly, “You’re my Grandpa, too! I-I don’t want you to die here, come on, Rick!”

“Give it up, Morty,” his own Rick grumbled from behind him. “I am  _ this  _ close to putting you both out of my misery.”

Morty tugged at the corpse, which only caused Rick to cling to it tighter. 

“Rick, come on,” he pleaded. “We can give them a proper burial, but right now I need you to come with us. Please?”

Slowly, gradually, Rick loosened his grip on the dead Morty. The living Morty, tears now streaming down his face, gently rested his own dead body on the ground and helped Rick to his feet. He leaned heavily on Morty, keeping the weight off his left leg.

“Great,” said his own Rick. “Can we go now? Or do you want to waste my time on any more lost causes while we’re here?”

“Rick!” Morty whined. “Why are you still being so mean about th-this?”

Rick sighed heavily and shot a portal onto the wall. “Trust me, Morty, if his Morty had dragged him to my world to save me, he’d be acting like just as much of a dick right now.”

Staggering under the bloody Rick’s weight, Morty helped his other grandpa through the portal. Without offering to help, Rick followed them through.

* * *

 

“Dad?!” Beth cried when Morty half-carried Rick into the kitchen. “Oh my God, Morty, what happened?”

“M-mom, this isn’t our Rick,” Morty assured her as he helped Rick into a chair at the table. “His dimension got into trouble, a-and he was the only… s-survivor. Uh, where’s the first-aid kit?”

He rooted through the cupboards until Beth elbowed him out of the way.

“Did you become a surgeon while my back was turned? No?” She grabbed the box labelled with a red cross, dropping it in front of Rick with a steely look in her eye. “He may not be a horse, but this is my job.”

Knowing better than to get between Beth and the object of her intense gaze, Morty backed out of the room with a stammered excuse and left Beth with her patient.

His own Rick was already back in the garage, idly pouring liquids from one beaker into another. “Did that dipshit- deuggh-die yet?” he belched.

Morty was finally out of patience. “Rick, why are you being such an asshole about this?” he shouted. “You could at least  _ pretend  _ to care for five minutes! We can help this guy, and even if you’re a shitty person you could just try to do something nice  _ for once in your goddamned life! _ ”

Breathing heavily, Morty glared at Rick with tears of rage filling his eyes. Rick stared at him impassively.

“What do you expect to do with him, Morty?” he finally said. “Send him off to another world, with another Morty and Beth and all that?”

Morty blinked; he hadn’t really thought about what to do beyond rescuing Rick from the decaying house. “W-well… yes?”

Rick picked up a cigarette and lit it. “Did it occur to you that he could have done that just as easily without your help? There are plenty of Rickless dimensions. He could have picked any one and moved in without a problem.”

“Th-then why didn’t he?” Morty said blankly.

Rick took a long drag of the cigarette. “Cause sometimes, kid, Ricks have limits. One too many dead Mortys, accidental genocides, betrayals… or even just one beer too many. All Ricks are dead inside, Morty, but once you get to be like that guy, there’s no going back.”

Morty’s mouth moved, but no sound came out besides a faint stammer. “B-but… what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Y-you’ve done all those things. Why haven’t you hit your limit?”

Rick took another drag, blowing a long stream of smoke into Morty’s face.

“Never said I haven’t, kid.”


End file.
